Update 30 June: The European Council has now published the
final list of all third-party countries deemed to be safe enough to allow
cross-border travel. The countries and territories are:
- Algeria
- Australia
- Canada
- Georgia
- Japan
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Rwanda
- Serbia
- South Korea
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
China will also be included, subject to the agreement of a
reciprocal arrangement to allow EU citizens to travel to the country. The UK, Switzerland,
Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway are automatically included on the list, which
will be updated every two weeks.
It is now up to individual member states to announce whether
or not they will allow travellers from the “safe list” into their own
countries. The Czech Republic has already published its own list of only eight
countries, while France said it expects to make a decision in the coming days.
The European Union is likely to ban travellers from countries
outside the bloc where coronavirus infections remain high, including the US,
Russia and Brazil, according to reports.
As the 27 member states prepare to reopen their borders from
1 July, the EU has reportedly drawn up a list of 14 countries deemed to be
low-risk areas from which states should allow travellers to enter. These include
Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Thailand, among others.
It could also include China – but only if the Chinese government agrees to
reciprocity and begins allowing European travellers back into the country.
The US, which has experienced a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, has maintained restrictions on people entering the
country from Europe since March and has made no mention of potentially lifting
the ban.
The common list was drawn up and has been promoted as part
of the EU’s aim to reopen its borders in a coordinated way to avoid confusion
among travellers. Each member state must now decide whether or not to approve
the list in their individual governments but reportedly face continued
restrictions from the rest of the bloc if they decide to accept travellers from
banned countries. Several countries, particularly those in the south, depend the
economic boost from American tourists during the summer.
The UK is reportedly being treated in the same way as EU
member states and will not face travel restrictions during the Brexit
transition period, which ends on 31 December. This is despite the UK imposing a
14-day quarantine on nearly all international arrivals – though the government
is outlining the details of its first review of the measures later today, which
could include air bridges with several low-risk countries in Europe.